


These Solemn Songs

by EmeraldHeiress



Series: Shards of Kyber [14]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Din Djarin Removes the Helmet, Don't copy to another site, Episode: s02e07 The Believer, Gen, Good Parent Din Djarin, Helmetless Din Djarin, Hurt Din Djarin, Light Angst, ManDadlorian, Panic Attack, Panic Attacks, Spoilers, chapter 15, mandoa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:21:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28008360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldHeiress/pseuds/EmeraldHeiress
Summary: “If we don’t get those coordinates, I’ll lose the kid forever.”
Series: Shards of Kyber [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847170
Comments: 30
Kudos: 299
Collections: New SW Canon Server Works





	These Solemn Songs

**Author's Note:**

> THIS FICLET CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 15 OF THE MANDALORIAN. PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION.

“If we don’t get those coordinates, I’ll lose the kid forever.” 

He could hear his voice rasp over the vocoder in his helmet, and in his head. Could feel the ache in his chest, that hollowed out sensation that had echoed within him since the death of his parents, the one that had started to fade these last few months. 

Since he had had The Child — _Grogu_.

He couldn’t lose Grogu.

“Give me the datastick.”

“It’s not gonna work.” Mayfield shifted uneasily, looking away. “In order to access the network, the terminal has to scan your face.” There was something in his eyes, a spark of emotion that Din couldn’t parse. Didn’t understand. “Let’s go.” 

Something coalesced in his belly, hard and cold. It began to creep up his spine. He knew he was at a crossroads; a choice. But it was a choice already made. 

“Give it to me.”

A choice between losing Grogu and anything else was no choice at all. 

The walk across the officer’s mess seemed both endless and instantaneous. Before he knew it he was standing in front of the terminal. His fingers worked of their own accord as his mind and stomach turned. For a moment, brief and fleeting, he had hoped, wished maybe, that Mayfield had been wrong. That the software had updated or the scanner was broken, or that Force that the Jedi had talked about was with him there was no need to show his face. 

To break his creed. To commit this sin. To make this choice. 

A crimson flash flickered across the screen and his gut twisted. Shaking fingers gripped the edge of his helmet and, for the first time since he put it on, Din blinked against the light in the presence of other people.

He could hear the sound of the others moving in the room. The shuffling of feet. The clatter of utensils against plates.

The sound of the chair scraping the floor was so loud it echoed. 

He wondered somewhat distantly if these noises were always so loud or if they only seemed that way right now as he tensely waited for the scan to complete and the information to load. 

One breath. 

Two.

The screen flashed again.

“Trooper.”

A word. Muffled. Like the sound receiver in his _buy’ce_ was turned off. Straining to be heard through straight beskar. 

There was a ringing, faint but growing louder. He didn’t know where it was coming from but he wished it would stop. The word came again. 

“Trooper.”

Din turned toward the voice, knowing he couldn’t get away. Knowing the game was up. He was sure that everything was spread across the face that no one but himself had seen in years — meticulously ticked off, one by one; tally marks stark across the inside of his vambrace. Marking the quiet passing of the years. 

Lips moved in the too-vivid face in front of him but he wasn’t sure what words they formed. The ringing only got louder. He stumbled a response, his mind slow, like stick sap from Utapau. 

One blink. Two. Mayfield was standing next to him. Something in him eased, only a bit. The ringing lessoned. He could hear again. 

Din blinked once more and he was sitting at a table, listening as Valin Hess spoke.

He _breathed_ , forcing air into his lungs. Deep and full, like he had been taught as a foundling. 

_Foundling_ — the word rang in the back of his head — as a _child_. 

Being Mandalorian was who he was. It was what he had been raised to be.

 _Bajur bal beskar’gam_ , the _Goran_ whispered in his mind. The voices of all of those he’d known merging into one. 

Even if he could never put his _buy’ce_ on again, he was still _Mando’ad_. The _Goran_ had given him a task: to look after the child. To be as his _buir_ until Grogu was returned to his people or until he was of age. 

_Aranov, aliit._

There was nothing more precious to _Mando’ade_ than its children.

_Mando’a bal Mand’alor—_

There was nothing more precious to him than _his_ child.

_An vencuyan mhi._

He breathed and felt the world return to form. The ground steady under his feet. The choice had already been made before he had been forced to make it. There was nothing he would not do, nothing he would not sacrifice, for his child.

A choice between losing Grogu and anything else was no choice at all. 

A flash and the electric sound of a blaster brought reality clashing down. The familiar darkness of a helmet descended around him and his body moved in the language it knew best. His first responsibility was to find his child. To bring him home.

After that, Din could figure out what everything else meant. Figure out where he stood.

This is the Way.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Mandoa**  
>  _Buy’ce_ \- helmet  
>  _Goran_ \- blacksmith  
>  _Buir_ \- parent, gender neutral  
>  _Mando’ad_ \- a Mandalorian (sing)  
>  _Mando’ade_ \- Mandalorians (pl)
> 
>  _Resol’nare_ — Six Actions — traditionally the six main tenets of Mandalorian culture  
>  _"Ba'jur bal beskar'gam."_ Education and armor  
>  _"Ara'nov, aliit,"_ Self-defense, our tribe  
>  _"Mando'a bal Mand'alor—"_ Our language and our leader  
>  _"An vencuyan mhi."_ All help us survive


End file.
